Following in the mantra of Donna Hay, entertaining should not just be stylish, but also simple. What’s the point of owning a glamourous chair if it’s uncomfortable to sit in? With this in mind, I introduce to you my favourite piece of furniture at the moment, the very functional family of food trolleys. While shopping trolleys are great for the supermarket, I would like to steer you in the direction of cheese trolleys, drinks trolleys and mobile kitchen islands which make entertaining indoors and outdoors, so much easier to manage.

A very elaborate example of the modern trolley is the beautiful custom designed cheese trolley at Restaurant Arras. Adam Humphrey (restaurant owner) personally designed the trolley which currently has a reputation surpassing the cheese and even the restaurant. Humphrey’s cheese trolley costs over $8,000 and took 9 months to create; it features a hidden ice tray for temperature control, a cheese knife drawer (resplendent with a $1,000 bronze handle), a pull out serving board and a tall, Perspex cloche. Adam Humphrey’s believes:

“I’ve always to create a cheese trolley that was as beautiful and dramatic as the cheeses we serve, so I decided that the best way to do that was to design one myself from scratch”.

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Drink trolleys are another fantastically practical item of furniture. There are many sleek, bright modern designs which are perfect for outdoor use and beg to hold a carafe of summer punch or martini glasses. They are particularly useful for outdoor entertaining, where you can just wheel them between your outdoor area and your kitchen for restocking to save carrying awkward loads and making multiple trips.

Mobile kitchen islands with wooden benches are fantastic for preparing food in an organised and contained way, and giving a smaller kitchen an extra bench to use. They are also brilliant for serving food; they make a great board for cheese, antipasto or snacks and once again also assist transporting food, drinks and tableware from living areas to the kitchen. Here’s a few I found particularly inspiring: